News

Porters moving cargo, people at record pace

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nick Przybyciel
  • 446th Airlift Wing
The holidays were a busy time of year for most Reservists, but this was especially true for four 446th Airlift Wing aerial porters deployed to Southwest Asia.
And if you thought packing up the car to head over to a relative’s house for a holiday gathering was hectic, then imagine being a deployed Airman from the 86th Aerial Port Squadron in Southwest Asia.
They have helped “packed-up” more than 9,000 tons of supplies — ammunition, vehicles, mail and even popcorn — onto aircraft heading downrange.
Averaging more than 2,000 aircraft missions a month, the mission was complicated by having 62 aerial port members from more than 18 different units.
“We are a mixed bag of active, Reserve, Guard and Marines interacting with the Army on a daily basis,” said Master Sgt. John Hopple, an air terminal operations center duty officer. “We move cargo and passengers on four foreign-owned aircraft as well as every branch of the DOD. Everyone had slightly different ways of doing things.”
The four 86th APS Airmen, deployed with the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, have helped move more cargo during this deployment than any other unit stationed at the base previously.
Tech. Sgt. Joseph Falcetti, 86th APS, is stationed there. “September was our busiest month and we manifested over 35,000 people into the area of responsibility. We also perform quality control on the baggage pallets destined for air shipment. This includes proper pallet configuration, height and weight requirements,” he said.
Since their deployment began in September, 368th ELRS aerial porters have helped move more than 200,000 passengers. This accounts for one-fifth of the 1 million passengers the wing has flown into or out of Iraq since October 2003.
“There is nothing these men and women can’t airlift. (They’re) a great bunch of folks. Every day, they bring heroes home and send the right stuff up north to defeat our enemies,” Sergeant Hopple said.
Meanwhile, the aerial porters eliminated a nearly 400-pallett backlog in the shipping yard, while handling the 36 to 80 new pallets they received every day.
Eliminating the backlog required extensive coordination between the cargo yard, where accountability is maintained, and Airmen who load and unload aircraft on the flightline.
“Working every day, in addition to the day-to-day normal operations, we took it one pallet at a time,” said Master Sgt. Scott Spackman, an aerial port cargo supervisor. “A lot of hard work and sweat got us down to those 20 to 30 pallets [currently in the cargo yard].”
Despite all the hard work, it has been a very rewarding mission. “The contact with the troops deploying and demobilizing and the contract workers on the base, both bus drivers and service workers has been wonderful,” said Tech. Sgt. Diana Buckner, an 86th APS Reservist. “There’s never a dull moment.” (Staff Sgt. Scott Campbell, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this report)